Return to Amsterdam

Back to Amsterdam for two nights and a day as our adventure winds down. It's been five fabulous weeks and now we are both ready to go back to Wever, Iowa and savor all the memories that we've experienced along this journey.

Norm has been on a mission to drink a new beer every day and although we haven't actually counted them up yet, we're pretty sure that he's "surpassed his goal."  :-)  Our top priority for our time in Amsterdam was to visit the Heineken Musuem which was pretty interesting...and very fun!

A visit to the Cannibis Musuem was even more interesting -- especially learning about all the medicinal uses for hemp. Other than that we just walked around town, drank coffee and enjoyed our last day on the continent. 

To bed early and that is why right now, at 4:00AM I am up typing this blog and trying to finish it before we leave at 7:00AM.  Soon we'll take the short walk to the train station, ride the train to the airport and fly to Chicago. Once there we'll retrive our car from the hotel and drive 4 hours home.  So, it will truly be a day of "trains, planes and automobiles!"

Our europe Adventure has been an amazing, experience, but like  with all our trips, we find our thoughts are starting to turn to home and we both very much look forward to being there for a while.

Little "sayings" and quotation are remembered because they are ring true in our bones. It's true, it's true:  "It is good to journey to an end; but in the end it's the journey that really matters."  And, it's also true........"There's no place like home."

con mucho amor

con tanto amore

s puno ljubavi

με πολύ αγάπη

çok sevgi ile

and with much love,

Norm & Nancy

Monday is Wash Day in the Ghetto - Venice, Italy

Our cruise ended where it had begun, in Venice.  We stayed on for three more days to tromp the winding streets (and get lost many times) and explore this beautiful, water-world.

Venice is one of Italy's top travel cities and a beautiful, romantic destination with many attractions. Its small, traffic-free streets along the winding canals made for great walking. (But too many people for our comfort) We found many magnificent churches and palaces, lively squares, and interesting shops -- TOO many if the truth be known along with TOO many other tourists.  We couldn't believe how crowded it was and can only imagine what it is like in the height of tourist season.

The name Venice is derived from the ancient tribe of Veneti that inhabited the region in Roman times. The city historically was the capital of an independent city-state. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Norm has now also dubbed it, "The City with the Bridges of Pain," for all the many tall bridges we walked 'up and over' during our three days in paradise, including the last time we left, dragging our heavy luggage with us to catch our Amsterdam plane. Note to self: NO MORE THAN 30 pounds each next trip!

Some of the well-known sites we visited were Saint Mark's Square along with the magnificent Basilica and the neighboring Dogg's Palace, Murano Island, where they make the beautiful blown glass (more on tht in a minute). One of the last places we visited was the Jewish Ghetto. In 1516, 700 Jews were forced to move to a then-remote northwestern corner of Venice, to an abandoned site of a 14th-century foundry. The word "ghetto," soon used throughout Europe for isolated minority groups, originated in Venice: ghetto is old Venetian dialect for "foundry."

Like most of the islands that make up Venice, the ghetto was totally surrounded by water. Its two access points were controlled at night and early morning by heavy gates manned by Christian guards (paid for by the Jews), both protecting and segregating its inhabitants. Within one century, the community grew to more than 5,000, representing many languages and cultures. Although the original Ghetto was periodically expanded, land was limited and quarters always cramped.

With the arrival of Napoleon in 1797, the ghetto was disbanded and Jews were free to move wherever they liked, but the Jews realized full freedom only in the late 19th century with the founding of the Italian state.(www.sacraddestinations.com)

One of the things we enjoyed most about visiting the 'ghetto' was that it was not crowded with visitors.  It was just a regular neighborhood and we were very tired of so many crowds.  It was nice to just walk through the nearly empty streets and enjoy the quiet.

Now, back to Murano Glass!  We did it!  Yep, Nancy is now the proud owner of a piece of fine art -- a large glass piece of two sea turtles.  And, one of our favorite sayings over the years has always been, "Behold the lowly turtle; she only makes progress when she sticks her necks out."  So, the turtles are being shipped and should arrive in a couple of weeks ....and we hope the kids don't mind our spending their inheritances :-)

 

Arrivederci  Venice - Hallo again to Amsterdam!

Norm and Nancy

Last Day on the Gem

Today is the last day we get to go ashore to explore a new port.  It’s been two wonderful, weeks of living a purely decadent life aboard the Norwegian Gem.  Neither of us would have ever guessed that we’d enjoy it this much, but after being privileged and pampered now for 13 days, we‘ve decided that it’s not a bad life -- TRULY….And, we have made a pact.  We will NEVER go to a Nursing Home.  When, or if, the time comes when we can’t care for ourselves, we’ll just book an open-ended ticket aboard a cruise ship and spend our remaining days on board having our laundry done for us, our room cleaned (twice a day) getting massages and having hot stones applied to our bodies whenever we feel like it!  We’ll eat any time of day we please and have array of banquets to choose from as well as an ever-changing library of books to choose from. And, for those times we might start to get just a little bit bored, there’ll be that never-ending array of entertainment to choose from…just an elevator ride away.  I’m telling you, I think we’re on to something for long-term-health-care.

A day at sea tomorrow then back to Venice for three days of getting lost and finding ourselves all over again.

Norm & Nancy



Napflion, Greece

The sweet town of Nafplion on the Peloponneian coast dates back to antiquity.  We were lucky to catch a glimpse of some of its age-old relics on our climb up the hillside this morning. 




We were originally looking for the Palamidi Fortress that towers over the hillside above the town.  However, we took a few wrong turns and ended up only climbing to the smaller Akronafplia Fortress – the oldest of Nafplions castles. 




It was a gray, but humid day, and the climb to Akronafplia alone made us think twice about then trying the 999 steps up to the Palamidi Castle. So, we decided we were satisfied with just zooming in with the camera and descended back to the village.

Once down the hillside we set out in search for the Antica Gelateria di Roma:  the BEST gelato place in town, or so says its reputation. (Touted to be “the best gelato in all of Greece”)  We soon found it and after sampling both the pale chocolate, and the deep, dark version, we too became fans of this lively, family-run place!  Nancy, in fact, fell in love and Norm had to pry her off the island and back onto our cruise ship.

Living Large on the Peloponneian coast,

Norm and Nancy

IZMIR, TURKEY

Known in Turkey as “beautiful  Izmir” the city lies at the head of a long and narrow gulf furrowed by ships and yachts.  That aside we’re not sure where they get the idea that the city is “beautiful.”  The city of 4.2 million people  is a sprawling mess of urban growth and industry with little of its ‘ancient’ buildings intact.  We went on a city tour and our guide explained that Izmir has been built and rebuilt since the 11^th century and each succeeding conqueror  destroyed the buildings of the one before it, and rebuilt a new city using the stones they torn down.,

After tromping around the archeological site (and it continues to amaze us that they allow us to roam freely and touch anything we want to) we visited the Archeological Museum. 

Next we visited a carpet factory and viewed about 100 fabulous rugs – each a true piece of art.  Nancy fell in love with one particular red one, but after learning the price was over $4,000 Euros, decided she didn’t love it that much J.  The owner was very pleasant and served us refreshments before we could go:  Raki for Norm (strong - pure alcohol) and Chai Tea for Nancy since 10AM is just too too early for alcohol in her book.

We ended our day in Izmir at the Konak Square with its famous clock tower and in the Konak shopping area where is not a ‘tourist shopping area’ full of souvenirs etc, but rather a marketplace where the everyday Turk does their shopping.  At first the crowded, narrow streets were a bit intimidating, (paranoia about getting pick-pocketed and so forth), but, once we got accustomed to it we both agreed it was much better than the usual ‘tourist tromp’ threw a maze of junk.  It was easy to imagine what it would be like to be living in the city and doing our everyday shopping on Konak Street. In fact, both Norm and I agree that we’d like to return to Turkey and spend more time exploring this country – may be rent an apartment and stay a while!

Norm did not buy a fez while in Izmir…..but he did try one on and I snapped his picture.

Headed back to Greece tomorrow and the adventure goes on!

Hugs,

Norm & Nancy

This is one of the many statues representing "freedom" to the people of Izmir who seemed to be very proud of that -- their own freedom that is.

“Recently” (about 20 years ago) an archeological ‘find’ was discovered right in the heart of the city some two meters underground.  The site continues today to be uncovered and the broken pieces put together.  From above ground the site was already impressive; however, it was after we descended the stairs to the underground that we became truly impressed.  You could almost feel the lives of those who walked the streets of ancient Izmir, gathered water at the community well, and lived a life very different from ours today.

The journey continues.....

N & N

Heralian, Greece...We're Talking REALLY Old Place!

Titus, the apostle, is the organizer and first Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Crete. He first appeared in history about 49AD a fellow of Paul, the Apostle. As a faithful and devoted disciple, Titus accompanied Paul on his journeys is Asia and Europe. Paul refers to Titus in a way that reflects the very close bond between the two men.

Heraklion is believed to have been settled since the Neolithic age. The Venetian walls surround the old city and facing the harbor are the ancient vaults and Venetian fortress. The heart of the city has a multitude of shops, cafes, bars etc.  We could have shopped ‘til we dropped, but we were on a mission:  to find the Archeological Museum!

And the beat goes on!

Norm & Nancy

Athens Greece

Athens was actually a bit of a let down.  Our tour was not well organized and it didn't allow enough time to actually climb up and clamor around the Acropolis. We did get to see it from afar though and  that was pretty amazing.

The Arceologica Musuem was fastinating!  It is actuallt built on top of a ruin which is still being excavated underneath.  We could see them working down below as we walked across the4 glass floors.  Freakey!

We're still having fun!

hugs,

Norm & Nancy

Welcome to Mykonis, Greece

Along the whitewashed streets stand brilliant white box-shaped houses with stepped walls for sitting on, wooden doors and windows with brightly colored balconies. These are interspered with small but impressive churches, pretty little cafes and shops selling souvenirs.  Mykonos feels “unreal” …. like a movie set, not a place where real people live and work.

Like all the islands of Greece, Mykonos has fishing as a primary industry.  The local fishermen bring their catch in and clean and fillet them on a MARBLE TABLE!  It would only in Greece….I’m telling you!   The wharf is also lined with vendors selling all sorts of vegetables in a sort of small “Farmers Market’ that must happen here every day.

We visited the Maritime Museum which was interesting – especially the stuff on the early, early boats and contraptions used to float such as the “Assyrian Raft Floating on Skins,” constructed as a raft of logs or tree branches that floated on sheep and goat skins that had been dried, sew up, and inflated with air, then tied to the bottom of the raft.   The same idea was also used as the ‘original life preservers’  

Mykonos is known for its sandy beaches that offer crystal clear waters for swimming and snorkeling, however, the beach near the port was so rocky Nancy could barely wade as few feet in it barefoot.

Having the time of our lives.....in Mykonis!@

Norm & Nancy

Windmills of Mykonis

The windmills of Mykonos are the trademark of the whole island. They can be seen from every point of the village and they are the first thing to see when the ship gets close to the harbour, as they stand on a hill overlooking the area.
There are 16 windmills today on Mykonos. Most of them were built by the Venetians in the 16th century and till the early 20th century, they were used to grind the wheat. They were an important source of income for the inhabitants and supported a lot the economy of Mykonos in difficult times. With the evolution of economy, their use gradually declined till they stop working in the middle of the 20th century.


Fun!


Norm & Nancy

Fira village on Santorini Island

On the way back down the cliff from Oia village, we stopped in another village, Fira, which was brimming with tourists.  In 1956 this little town, along with the rest of the island, was hit by an earthquake that destroyed a large part of the island.  Some of Fira was destroyed, but luckily, some of the 18^th century buildings were saved.

In Fira we stopped in an art gallery that featured metal art – visions from the Sea.  Fabulous!

Our exit from the island was ‘interesting’ to say the very least. We took a CABLE CAR from the top to the port that went almost vertically.  It was after dark and definitely what we’d put in the ADVENTURE category for the trip.

In the village of Oia, on Santorini Island

Santorini is the most extraordinary island in the Aegean Sea.  The volcanic cliffs are red, brown or greenish, surmounted by string of white villages. Jutting out from the deep blue sea, its volcanic sheer cliffs topped with gleaning white village homes and churches resemble snow capped mountains.

Real estate here is off the charts. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolee own a ‘cave house’ in Santorini, if that gives you any idea what I mean.

In ancient times Santorini was circular. But, in 1500BC the volcano in the middle produced an eruption so strong that the entire center of the island was submerged. Many people relate the eruption and subsequent sinking of the islands center to the inking of the mythical lost city of Atlantis. The volcanoes last eruption was in 1956 and the volcano is still active today.

We visited the charming village of Oia, the most picturesque place of all the lovely places we’ve been on the trip. Perched on top of an impressive cliff (the bus ride up in a bus was “interesting”) it should have given a most magnificent spot to watch the sunset. However, just about sunset time a fog rolled in and the sky became overcast blocking the sunset.  Oh well, no worries, we did try another Greek beer and a little Fava while we were there!

Clamoring around Corfu, Greece

Its Greek name, Kerkyra, is connected to two powerful water symbols: Poseidon, god of the ea; and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river. According to the myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, daughter of Asopus and river nymph Metope and abducted her, as was the custom among gods of the era’s myths.  Poseidon brought her to the hitherto unnamed island and, being in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra which gradually evolved to Kerkyra and, eventually, Corfu.

Corfu’s spectacular coastline hosts intimate white pebbly coves, glittering turquoise waters, and stunning views reaching out over the sea, but, for us, the best part of Corfu was exploring the Old Fortress that was built (and rebuilt) from 1386 to 1797. An old gentleman we met coming down as we were going up told us that during World War II the fortress was used by the Allies as both a hospital for the wounded and a strategic base. I think he was based there.

The Old fortress of Corfu is a pretty incredible place and to think that they allowed us to clamor all over it and explore to our hearts content just blows my mind!

The Blacks & Grays of Split

It was a bit of a drizzling day the day we spent in Split. Tromping around the city on a Sunday morning we found many shops were closed as was the famous ‘Farmers Market’.  We found the city a somewhat dreary place – all grays and black architecture - but we did find, however, that the bougainvillea grows abundantly and helps to brighten things up a bit.  Also, Norm found a new beer to add to his growing list.: Kaltenburg.  So, after scrambling around to find a cash machine that would give us Kronars (our Euros were no good in Croatia) we enjoyed a libation on the pier before heading back to the ship.

Gregoria

A gye-normous statue of Gregorio towers at the exit to the Palace of Diocletian. (research this guy) and his big toe is polished by the thousands of people who stop by daily to rub his toe for good luck.  We tried it and, HEY! Just look at how lucky we are J

Diocletian Palace - Split, Croatia

The Roman emperor, Diocletian started to build a palace around 293AD.  We never did find out how long it took to build but are guessing, like all the other palaces and cathedrals we’ve seen on this trip, the building went on for centuries.  Today, sadly, the citizens of Split have turned the palace into a bazaar where the tourists can buy everything from fine porcelain to soap-on-a-rope in the shape of the country.

The Gray Streets of Split

The palm-lined waterfront makes a pretty entrance into the city when you arrived by water. After you get past the first street though the city takes on only shades and shades of gray, brightened only by the many bougainvilleas growing on the walls

Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia is one of the oldest cities in the area and is traditionally considered to be over 17—years old, however, archaeological research relating to the ancient Greek colony of Aspalathos (6^th century BC) establishes Split as being several years older. 

NOT TO WORRY

Emails from several of you who are worried bec ause I havenćt been writing on the blog.  We+re traveling on the cruise ship now and itćs sllllloooooww Internet connection and it costs lots of $$$ so we+re using onlz Internet cafes now and then and no photos.  Not worry though.  Ive been journeling on my computer and organiying the photos so I will catch it all up when we get home!

Big hugs to everyone,

Norm and Nancy

Ps Dig the crazy Croatian letters?

Rats Drown in Venice !

The sky cracked open and let loose with a fury that could hold its own against any Iowa rainstorm. The difference was it didn’t let up after an hour. It just kept raining. Buckets.  We ran from street corner to street corner dragging our luggage in the wake behind us. At one point we shared a church alcove with six other soaking wet humans and one very unhappy cat. (the church itself was locked)  But, let me start over from the beginning:

It started in Madrid when our flight was delayed for 4 hours. It caused us to arrive long after dark. But, so far, no problem.  We wrestled the machine in the airport and, finally, with help from a kind Brit, managed to buy two tickets for the Vaporatto (water bus) that would take us into the city.

Just as we began the 7-minute walk down to the Vaporetto (no kidding – they measure it by minutes and have little signs of encouragement along the way..”Only 6 minutes more,  Just 5 minutes…etc”….) it began to drizzle. By the time we reached the Vaporetto it was beginning to get serious. But still, no problem. The ride into the city would take nearly an hour. Surely the rain would be finished in that time?

NOT!

After much confusion over where and when to get off the Vaporetto (no announcements were made and the rain made it hard to read signs) we finally disembarked at Saint Mark’s Square. It was as dark as the devils own colon and raining like the gods poured buckets straight over our heads.

 Welcome to Venice; The city of Water.

It’s a bit of a blur now as I write this 10 days after the fact, but let’s just say that the next 30 minutes , or more, involved a lot of running back and forth, trying to get our bearings. I asked a lot questions in very poor Spanish (and, no, Spanish is NOT enough like Italian to be able to communicate - at least not my sloppy Spanish) Eventually we dragged our sorry selves and our sopping luggage aboard another Vaporetto and rode on until the next stop:  Academia Bridge.  Norm now calls it the “Bridge of Pain,”   because as the ‘burro’ he was lugging most of the now wet luggage. We were making progress.  From our directions, our B & B (a Music School with a B & B inside) should only a few blocks away  -- once we climbed the 30 steps up, over and down the bridge that spanned the canal. We (Norm) hauled our luggage up and over the bridge) and we descended into  water- world- hell on the other side.  Now ankle deep in water we let loose a few explicatives. Some even began with the letter ‘F’ and that didn’t stand for ‘fun.  But we were almost there!  Our simple directions (copied from the Rick Steves Travel Guide) involved only two more blocks and as many turns.

NOT!

It was only after several increasingly desperate tries to find the right intersections that Nancy parked Norm and all our bags in the church alcove (with the wet cat and other people) and set out to find help. Our assumption (and remember what happens when you ass-u-me) was that my Spanish might be helpful in getting directions in Italian.

NOT!

One ‘helpful’ family sent me off around the block; another gentleman just looked at me blankly and yelled back in German. (Note to self: Talking LOUDER does not make it any easier to understand a foreign language)

So, I decided to start fresh. The rain still poured and it’d been at least 30 minutes now of wading about Venice.  It’s midnight and I look like a good candidate to win a wet T-shirt contest.  Returning to the Bridge of Pain I pulled my now sopping scrap of paper with directions from my pocket: “Take the first Left after the bridge “it read.   Okay. I moved forward and took the first narrow winding street that I saw.  Around the first corner I found three young people, two women and one man,  huddled in a doorway to protect from the rain, smoking marijuana.  I asked to make certain I was headed in the correct direction.

 “Where do you go?” asked the young man in broken English.

I pulled the scrap of paper from my pocket and opened my hand. The wet wad of newsprint fell apart. As I hastily tried to piece the pieces back together to show the name and address we all began to laugh. It was a Magical Moment. The Venetian teenagers high on MJ and one old American high of life laughed until we nearly wet ourselves, which at that time would not have shown anyway.  And so we shared a language that crosses all language barriers. The language of laughter.

Just then and bedraggled , dripping Norm came around the corner dragging all our bags with him.  I’d been gone so long he began to worry and imagine all sorts of trouble I might have gotten into running about the streets of Venice in the night.

After some discussion and a few cell phone calls our ‘angels’ led us to our B & B which was, indeed, nearby. It was 12:45AM in Venice.

How do you thank three angels? There are not enough words. And they simply ran off  -- “It was nothing.” -- laughing and chattering among themselves.  I’m certain a crazy, old American was being discussed.

But, it WAS something. And we will not forget.  And one day….we will ‘pay it forward.’  I’ll leave our B & B room description, including a shower that only allowed us to wash down to our knees, to the photos to show you.  We hope you enjoy a good laugh at the Harless’s expense.  We truly are….

Living large in Venice,

Norm & Nancy

Leaving Granada

Post to follow

More Granada

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Alhambra - Home of the Last Morrish Princes

The Alhambra - home of the last Morrish princes -  was a palace, a citadel, a fortress and home of the Nasrid Sultans, high government officials, servants of the court and elite soldiers of the Nasrid Dynasty (1238-1492), the last Islamic sultanate in the lberian Peninsula. Together with the Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba, the Alhambra is one of the most widely known of all Islamic works of art.

The Nasrid Sultans chose as the site for their court the Sabika hill, one of the foothills of Sierra Nevada on the plain of Granada, which constituted an excellent site from which to keep watch over the capital of their kingdom and the surrounding area. From the beginning of the XIII century, the small older buildings, mainly watchtowers, some of which dated back to before the XI century, gradually grew into a huge walled site which clearly intended to be both palace and court.

Within this gradual change, different stages of development, grandeur and decadence can clearly be seen through the various works of art and buildings erected over the years. The Alhambra was not a single static construction, built at a specific date, but rather the result of an evolution, successive reforms and extensions.

In the Cathredral of Alhambra

 

TOLEDO

Gypsy Flamenco in a Cave

A Gypsy flamenco show , held in a cave, was our last  adventure in Seville. This gives you the idea of how close we were to the "show." The cave was lined with chairs around all the edges and the dancers performed down the center of the room, which is a real cave, albeit now lined in stucco.  This room, and their entire 18,000 square foot hous is actually a cave turned into a modern home.  the entire fgamily - three generations - all the aunts, uncles and everybodies kids, live together in this large cave and dance together in what appeared to be a very lucrative business.  These are VIP gypsies!